On March 24, under the chair of Ambassador Li Baodong, Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations and President of the Security Council for March, the Security Council held a briefing on the situation in Libya. Council members heard the briefing by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1973 concerning the situation in Libya. The briefing was followed by Security Council closed-door consultations, where Council members expressed their views on the Libya issue.

Ambassador Li stated during the consultations that China maintains that the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Libya should be respected. The relevant Security Council resolution is aimed at humanitarian protection, rather than causing more civilian casualties and greater humanitarian disasters. We call for immediate ceasefire by all parties to avoid escalation of conflict and aggravation of the tensions in the region.

Ambassador Li said that China values and respects the positions of African and Arab countries. The current crisis in Libya should be resolved through peaceful means such as dialogue and negotiations. The domestic affairs and future of Libya should be determined by its own people. China supports the efforts made by the UN Secretary-General and the AU to push for peaceful settlement of the issue, and hope to see positive results at an early date. The AU High-level Meeting on Libya to be held in Ethiopia on March 25 will provide an important opportunity for the political settlement of the Libya issue. We hope the United Nations and the AU will work closely for the success of the meeting.